Time Warp Fiber

Remember than I'm a spinner too? And officially a carder as well. I've branched out an awful lot from that day in a coffee shop with acrylic yarn and a Lion Brand how to knit book. Blending fibers seemed like a natural progression from spinning and dyeing. This project was not so much to work with color as with fibers. I've had some trouble spinning slippery soysilk all by its lonesome, so I wanted some of that. And I had some leftover alpaca. Fleshed it out with good old wool and I was on the move. I'm still working on my carding technique, but it's getting easier. I tend to get between 5 and 8 grams per rolag. Does that sound about right to any carders out there? If you have an efficiency secret, I'd love to hear. I didn't strive for a perfect blend on this, I was aiming for a slubby sort of yarn, with little blips of each fiber taking center stage at times. As you can see in the sample (by the way, I actually sampled!) I think this worked out alright. I'm unsure as to whether I'll over dye this after it's been spun, what do you think? Off hand, I don't think I have any FO's in natural colors for myself, and I've been wanting a brown scarf, so maybe I'll leave it as is. Send happy spinning thoughts my way, as I'll be putting this on the wheel soon. I've had limited experienced wheel-spinning carded fiber, rather than combed, and certainly I've never spun my own amateur attempts on the wheel. Coming soon: a new FO and a sock parade.

An experiment in blending fibers with my new hand cards. soysilk, alpaca, and columbia/ramboulliet wool. Complete with spun sample.

A bit later than I thought, but I am blogging again. And presenting a finished object, no less. This is the second clapotis I've made. I'm not usually much for the same patterns that the whole knitting world rushes after, but I'll admit a deep admiration for anything Kate Gilbert. This pattern, for example, is so simple and adaptable but still fresh and interesting. In this case, I've used a larger needle size, a 6.5 mm (10.5 US) and done just two sets of increase rows. The finished dimensions are about seven feet by ten inches. I haven't worn it yet, but today was the first cloudy, cool day, and tomorrow, it's actually supposed to rain. Horrifying, I know. I'm concerned no one will remember how to drive. The scarf is lightweight and fluffy and warm, and I think it'll be a good one. Mostly, it's special for the process. Here it is in pictures.

Ashford hand cards, shown here with my beautiful hand crafted spindle and some of the fruits of my first carding experiment.

Singles for a two-ply yarn. The solid is Louet corriedale in olive. The pale multi is super soft merino I dyed in Laura's studio many moons ago. I'm hoping these will ply together well, different fibers in plying is something I haven't tried before. 

So,lots of news. First off, I actually have a job, if not the ideal one. I'm going to be teaching at a summer program until august, at which point I will re-examine grad school options and other job thoughts. But hooray employment. I'm sure you'll hear plenty about my students in the upcoming months.

FOs! Two of them. The first is actually a crochet project, a rarity for me. This whole thing started with my missing SAFF 2005, and having Laura surrogate shop for me. (she comes up a lot, major fiber enabler) One of the things she brought back was for ounces of an incredible heathered garnet merino. I spun it the following summer into thick and thin singles and waited for it to tell me what it wanted to be. The answer came a year later,  it needed to be a scarf, and I thought a simple single crochet would jive well with the textured yarn. I started it that summer 2007, and then kind of forgot about it with all the madness of that fall and winter. But I picked it up again et voila: a scarf. It's a little shorter than I usually make (I like very long scarves to be able to skim my more ample curves) but it might do better as an all day piece, for inside and out. And of course, it's delicious in color and softness. Quite a journey for that scarf, over years and thousands of miles. It makes it all the more special. 

The second FO has less history. It's one of the many pairs of plain socks I started to keep me company on the most recent trek out CA. I bought the yarn last summer in Santa Monica, at the fabulous wildfiber, actually having it in mind for someone else. But then another sock yarn called that person's name to me and the yarn went into the stash. Being Cherry tree hill, one of my favorites, it didn't languish long. While purple is not my favorite color, there is something fun about such loud socks. 

However, all the good news has been a little overshadowed for me. Now that we have good insurance, I've been playing catch-up with my healthcare, which was spotty at best through my childhood and teen years. The worst of this has been dental.  I am terrified of the dentist. Like I would rather face three Balrogs armed with only a squirt gun terrified. I bravely went and had a cleaning. I even didn't have a panic attack in getting fitted for a crown. But then came the referral to the oral surgeon. My blood pressure rose just going into that office. And then she informs me that because my wisdom teeth should have come out 7 years ago, they have tangled with the nerves and caused major damage and infection. Huge pain, enough antibiotics to disinfect Chicago, and a CAT scan later, I schedule my surgery and sign ten different things acknowledging how high risk the surgery is and how they won't completely sedate me and how it will cost my soul to pay for and they shove me out the door. It was all I could do not to crawl under the car and cry. Of course, this surgery interferes with my job training, so my brand new boss is already not pleased with me. And I have nightmares about having no teeth or no feeling in my head or medical bill collectors throwing tear gas into my apartment. So, my hypothetical reader, if you choose to spawn, have their teeth taken care of at an early age, lest they face the indignity of being a grown up, educated human who fears nothing so much as a green smocked surgeon with a pair of pliers.